Boarding school education, anyone?

“Boarding schools give you more freedom and responsibility as you live away from your parents, away from the comforts of your own home. But at the same time, you live with friends, new people or a culture you’re not very accustomed to. You need to adapt and understand that life is not how it is here in the Philippines,” this is according to Sambar who studied secondary education at St. George’s School in Vancouver, Canada.

Today, Filipinos can have the opportunity to study in a boarding school. In the Philippines, some people may identify boarding school like living in a dormitory or a boarding house. However, it’s totally a different thing.

Aside from staying with your classmates in a boarding school, you are also closer to your teachers who exactly act as your second parents. There are strict guidelines to obey like curfews and sleeping time. You are also given tasks especially if you’re one of the senior students. Sambar explained boarding school as a venue for senior students where they are authorized to enforce discipline.

Studying in boarding schools is quite expensive since it comprises accommodation, food, and laundry. You may also need to pay for uniforms, textbooks, and field trips outside the school. However, Sambar said that all of these are worth it. In addition, there are also available scholarships.

Sambar beleieved that studying in boarding school is very much significant in the Philippines, which is among the largest English-speaking countries around the globe. This significance may uplift the economy.

Finally, Sambar is also encouraging Filipinos that if they are given an opportunity to study in a boarding school, they should grab it because it’s totally a unique experience.

S. Fojas

How Singapore’s quirky election system works

Citizens in Singapore who are twenty one years old and above are qualified to vote during election or lose the chance to vote in succeeding elections. A registered voter will only retrieve his/her name on the list if he/she has a valid reason like giving birth or the person may also pay S$50 equivalent to thirty five dollars.

For citizens in Singapore who are qualified to vote, Friday will be day to vote for the first time, as oppositions will engage in competition every parliamentary position for the first time since the 1965 independence in Singapore. According to the Elections Department a total of 2.5 million registered voters participated in the election.

Aside from the compulsory voting, Singapore has also quick campaign which made them the world’s shortest campaign during election. The politicians will be given nine days, implemented by the constitution to pursue the voters and gain support from them. Singapore also practices the cooling off day where no which stops the campaign period on the night of Election Day.

Having no surveys is also one of the unusual election systems in Singapore. It is considered illegal to release election surveys and the person who is guilty of this illegal act will be jailed up to twelve months or a fine of about S$1,500.

Aside from that, candidates for elections can only conduct political protest at officially assigned areas, which are distributed through a ballot. They are also blocked from dividing the stage with traditional Getai singers, live shows during Hungry Ghost Festival that was celebrated on the same election period.

Sinagpore also saves the positions of parliamentary for Non-Constituency Members of Parliament who are labeled as “best losers” who belong to the opposition candidates. After the election, Singapore’s system also guarantees a limited number of opposition candidates in parliament.

K. Chen

Number of Dogs & Cats in Households Worldwide

Cats and dogs are very rampant and can be found exactly anywhere. American people are not only the pet lovers in the world. However, the quantity of pets living in houses across the globe differs. Other countries love dogs while some prefer cats to be their domestic pets. Whatever social status you have, love for animals is very common to people.

Although there is a rapid increase of population in some Asian countries, pets don’t take similar appreciation compared to the Western countries. As an example, there are more or less eleven million cats and 26.8 million dogs in china although China has about five times more people compared to U.S. On the other hand, Japan has a striking number, taking into consideration how small Japan is with 13.1 million dogs and 9.8 million cats.

When it comes to the rest of the world, statistics are insufficient for much of South America and huge areas of Oceania excluding Australia. Australia has a pretty low quantity of pets since there are strict laws in their area concerning pets. Based on the survey, there are about 3.5 million dogs and 2.4 million cats in Australian households. In South America, Brazil control the crowd with a magnificent thirty million dogs and 14.7 million cats.

T. Dray